Meet Jim Wolf, Customer Service Manager

Hometown: Carey, Ohio Education: B.S. Agriculture, Ohio State University, 1976 Experience: Over 30 years in fertilizer, crop protection and seed industries Family: wife Tressa; 2 daughters Church: Grace Community Church

As you know by now, we became part of Monsanto's ASI family to make sure we are positioned for the future to bring the very best yielding corn products and traits to our customers. A bonus of this decision is the addition of soybeans to our offering. I want to especially thank those of you who have jumped on board with iCORN allowing us to be a part of your hybrid line-up during the last seven years. Our main focus continues to be to serve you better and improve your bottom line by offering the very latest, elite genetics. Throughout my career, my biggest source of enjoyment has been working with and serving farmers of all sized operations.

I grew up on a grain and livestock farm in Ohio, where I participated in 4-H and FFA. This upbringing taught me a strong work ethic, accountability, and responsibility that helped me greatly in my agricultural studies at Ohio State and throughout my career.

My first job was at Lafayette Co-op in Lafayette, Indiana. I enjoyed the work, building relationships with farmers and developing cropping systems to help them be more profitable. In 1980 I returned to Ohio to join a friend in a suspension fertilizer business. Again, my focus was to help customers develop profitable cropping systems, based on soil testing and regular scouting.

Our business carried two major seed brands, which attracted me to the seed industry. I then accepted a position with Callahan Seeds in 1984. This gave me an opportunity to work with farms of all sizes. In 1987, I accepted the position of Eastern Regional Manager, assisting eight other managers in Ohio and Michigan. I held that position with LG/Callahan Seeds until August 2000.

What led me to be initially to help launch iCORN was my observation that demands on the farmer's time have skyrocketed as farm sizes have increased. Important decisions have to be made in less time. New technology and genetics develop almost daily, and it is becoming more challenging for farmers to keep up. iCORN helps in meeting these needs by leveraging the latest, available technologies. These strategies are now still true and maybe even more important.

As we continue to gain market share with your support, we keep a priority focus on efficiency in every aspect of our business. This approach will help to keep us a reliable and competitive supplier for the long-term. Our objectives will continue to be:

• seed decisions made on your timetable
• elite genetics that are fairly priced
• premium services
• and, free delivery on your schedule

As I oversee Customer Service for iCORN, if you think of any way we can improve our service to you, please let me know. You can email me at jwolf@icorn.com.